Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY 3.0Santa Rosa’s household incomes are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Santa Rosa is better than 16% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). The poverty rate is 23.2%; New Mexico has 17.8%. At home: 0% of workers have no commute at all (New Mexico 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Santa Rosa: the gist
Santa Rosa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Santa Rosa is Albuquerque, 112 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (81) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
43% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Santa Rosa are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 827 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Santa Rosa’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Santa Rosa’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santa Rosa could be anywhere from D− to C+.
How far Santa Rosa’s workers travel
About 43% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
From Santa Rosa, about 15 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Rosa workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 976 commuters (the 0% who work from home are left out). Across New Mexico: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Santa Rosa by day
On a workday 449 residents head out to work, 378 work right here, and 497 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Albuquerque
Where Santa Rosa clocks in
10% of workers
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The 875 jobs based in Santa Rosa
875 jobs are based in Santa Rosa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Rosa, 2013 → 2023: 966 → 875. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Santa Rosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Santa Rosa, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 976 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.8% of Santa Rosa households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Santa Rosa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Santa Rosa next to U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800: 3,864th of 4,703 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 755 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,357 | Las Campanas NM | 2,119 | $205K | 8.9% | 2.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,862 | Oak Hill FL | 2,188 | $66K | 18.7% | 8.2% | 3% | C− |
| 3,863 | Versailles MO | 2,713 | $34K | 20.4% | 2.9% | 32% | C− |
| 3,864 | Santa Rosa NM | 2,802 | $49K | 23.2% | 2.4% | 46% | C− |
| 3,865 | La Villa TX | 3,257 | $31K | 25.7% | 9.1% | 5% | C− |
| 3,866 | Middleburgh NY | 3,124 | $53K | 12.5% | 5.1% | 11% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Santa Rosa, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Santa Rosa: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Rosa?
$48,789 (±$14,291) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Rosa?
23.2%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Rosa?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Rosa work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (10%, 112 mi), Santa Fe (6%, 89 mi), Vaughn (4%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Santa Rosa walkable?
Santa Rosa is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Rosa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Rosa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Rosa
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.